Navy SEAL Jocko Willink Reveals Battlefield-Tested Secrets to Success

Summary

Podcast Summary: Navy SEAL Jocko Willink Reveals Battlefield-Tested Secrets to Success

Episode: Navy SEAL Jocko Willink Reveals Battlefield-Tested Secrets to Success
Release Date: May 30, 2025
Podcast: The Mello Millionaire with Tommy Mello
Host: Tommy Mello
Guest: Jocko Willink, Bestselling Author, Leadership Consultant, and Former Navy SEAL Commander

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Mello Millionaire, host Tommy Mello welcomes Jocko Willink, a renowned Navy SEAL commander, bestselling author, and leadership expert. Known for his relentless discipline and battle-tested leadership principles, Jocko shares invaluable insights drawn from his military experience and subsequent ventures in the civilian sector.

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Early Life and Military Career

Jocko Willink begins by reflecting on his early aspirations and the driving forces that shaped his path. He recounts his childhood desire for discipline and action, stating:

• "[00:04] Jocko Willink: That alarm goes off at 4:30. Do I feel like getting out of bed? No. Do I get out of bed? Yes."

His motivation is deeply rooted in honoring the sacrifices of his fallen comrades:

• "[00:11] Jocko Willink: The guys that I lost in combat, they sacrificed their lives and I'm not going to let those guys down."

As a Navy SEAL commander, Jocko led the highly decorated Task Unit Bruiser during the Iraq War, epitomizing leadership and strategic prowess on the battlefield.

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Transition to Civilian Life and Business Ventures

Upon retiring from the SEALs in 2010, Jocko seamlessly transitioned his military-honed leadership skills into the business realm. He founded Echelon Front, a leadership consulting company that translates battlefield lessons into corporate strategies:

• "[02:47] Jocko Willink: So you have to figure out, all right, this is the one that's going to give me the most return on investment."

Jocko's entrepreneurial spirit extends to various ventures, including:

• Jocko Fuel: A supplement company supporting fitness enthusiasts.
• Origin USA: A clothing brand specializing in American-made apparel.
• Victory MMA: An MMA gym fostering discipline and physical fitness.

His multifaceted businesses are interconnected, each supporting his core passions for leadership, fitness, and American manufacturing.

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Leadership Principles: Extreme Ownership

A central theme of the conversation revolves around Extreme Ownership, a leadership philosophy Jocko champions. He emphasizes that true leadership begins with taking full responsibility:

• "[04:22] Jocko Willink: You don't have anything to prove. You don't need to prove to your SEAL platoon that you're in charge of them."

Jocko outlines key principles that apply both in combat and business settings:

1. Cover and Move: Supporting one another to achieve the mission.
2. Prioritize and Execute: Focusing on the most critical tasks first to drive progress.
3. Decentralized Command: Empowering team members to take initiative without micromanagement.

These principles foster a culture of accountability, efficiency, and cohesive teamwork, essential for organizational success.

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Discipline and Building Habits

Discipline emerges as the cornerstone of Jocko's philosophy. He discusses how disciplined habits can transform one's life, regardless of upbringing:

• "[15:13] Jocko Willink: Discipline is a habit, it's a skill, it's a muscle that you need to train and you need to work on."

Jocko advocates for rigorous daily routines, such as waking up early and engaging in physical exercise:

• "[11:05] Jocko Willink: Wake up early. If you're not getting, I think you should get up in the morning and do some kind of exercise."

He stresses that discipline is not innate but developed through consistent effort and the willingness to do what others may not.

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Advice for Young Men and Entrepreneurs

Jocko provides actionable advice for young men and aspiring entrepreneurs, emphasizing hard work, delayed gratification, and strategic delegation:

• "[07:24] Jocko Willink: But if you want, you're not going to outwork 10 people. No, it doesn't matter who you are."

He highlights the importance of surrounding oneself with high-performing individuals and continuously seeking personal and professional growth:

• "[17:50] Jocko Willink: There's always going to be trade-offs. There's always going to be sacrifices."

Jocko encourages a focus on long-term success over immediate pleasures, advocating for financial prudence and continuous self-improvement.

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Overcoming Insecurity and Accountability

Addressing personal development, Jocko discusses strategies to overcome insecurity and foster accountability:

• "[13:26] Jocko Willink: If you're insecure about something, go and admit it, face it, and then start to take ownership of it."

He identifies common barriers to success, such as blaming external factors, and underscores the necessity of self-responsibility:

• "[13:52] Jocko Willink: It's my boss's fault, it's my parents' fault... So we blame a bunch of other people for things that are going wrong in our life."

Jocko posits that acknowledging one's role in challenges is pivotal to gaining control and initiating positive change.

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Relationships and Balance

Jocko delves into the dynamics of maintaining healthy relationships and achieving work-life balance. He outlines the fundamental components of strong relationships:

• Trust
• Listening
• Respect
• Influence
• Care

He emphasizes that mutual respect and effective communication are essential for any meaningful relationship:

• "[21:14] Jocko Willink: Relationships are based on five components. Trust, listen, respect, influence, and care."

Balancing professional ambitions with personal life requires intentional time management and prioritization:

• "[19:30] Jocko Willink: Make time for what's important."

Jocko advises conducting a time audit to identify and eliminate time-wasting activities, thereby freeing up time for meaningful engagements.

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Motivating Forces and Closing Thoughts

Towards the end of the episode, Jocko reiterates his primary motivation rooted in honoring his fallen comrades:

• "[24:10] Jocko Willink: The motivating force in life that drives me is the guys that I lost in combat."

He expresses deep gratitude for their sacrifices, which fuel his commitment to leadership and personal excellence.

Tommy Mello concludes the conversation by highlighting Jocko's profound impact on listeners and thanking him for his invaluable insights.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Mello Millionaire offers a treasure trove of wisdom from Jocko Willink, blending military precision with entrepreneurial acumen. Listeners gain actionable strategies on leadership, discipline, personal growth, and achieving balance, all underpinned by Jocko's unwavering commitment to excellence and responsibility. Whether you're aspiring to lead a team, build a successful business, or improve personal discipline, Jocko's battlefield-tested secrets provide a robust framework for extraordinary success.

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Notable Quotes:

• "[00:04] Jocko Willink: That alarm goes off at 4:30. Do I feel like getting out of bed? No. Do I get out of bed? Yes."
• "[13:52] Jocko Willink: It's my boss's fault, it's my parents' fault... So we blame a bunch of other people for things that are going wrong in our life."
• "[24:10] Jocko Willink: The motivating force in life that drives me is the guys that I lost in combat."

Transcript

[Tommy]

If you were raised without discipline, how do you flex that muscle?

[Jocko Willink]

That alarm goes off at 4:30. Do I feel like getting out of bed? No. Do I get out of bed? Yes.

[Tommy]

What's the motivating force in life that drives you?

[Jocko Willink]

That I think about all the time is the. The guys that I lost in combat, they sacrificed their lives and I'm not going to let those guys down.

[Tommy]

Wow. Discipline, leadership, relentless drive. Our guest today doesn't just preach these values, he lives them. As a Navy SEAL commander, he led Task unit Bruiser.

[Jocko Willink]

Get ready to move.

[Tommy]

The most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq war.

[Jocko Willink]

Jocko was a leader that you never wanted to let down.

[Tommy]

He took those battlefield lessons and built Echelon Front.

[Jocko Willink]

Leading in combat is like leading in any other situation in life.

[Tommy]

Coaching top leaders in business and life. Joining us is Jocko Willing. He is a bestselling author.

[Jocko Willink]

How does this translate into corporate America?

[Tommy]

A Brazilian Jiu jitsu black belt.

[Jocko Willink]

Who here likes to train jiu jitsu?

[Tommy]

A successful entrepreneur.

[Jocko Willink]

Oh, shit. Jaco.

[Tommy]

And the host of the Jocko podcast, inspiring millions to embrace the warrior mindset. And yes, he really does wake up at 4:30am every single day.

[Jocko Willink]

You've changed my life, man. Huge fucking fan.

[Tommy]

Get ready. This conversation is going to be intense. Today I'm joined by Jocko Willink. We usually start out asking a bunch of questions, but I think most people know who you are. What, what was the greatest thing about being a Navy seal?

[Jocko Willink]

Just working with awesome guys and having a really cool mission every day, you know? Yeah. Like, I don't. When I was a young kid, I didn't want to be inside, I wanted to be outside. Wanted to be shooting a machine gun if possible. And it's pretty cool. When I figured out that you could actually get a job shooting a machine gun, I was like, sign me up.

[Tommy]

And when did you retire?

[Jocko Willink]

I retired in 2010.

[Tommy]

2010?

[Jocko Willink]

Yeah.

[Tommy]

Well, let's just start out by. You'll just tell us a little bit about all the stuff you're into right now. You've got your supplements, you've got your speaking, you've got your kind of best practices. Coaching.

[Jocko Willink]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I got a. I got a leadership consulting company called Echelon Front and we've got a bunch of instructors and, you know, the principles that we learned on the battlefield about leadership. We documented those and ended up teaching them in the SEAL teams. And then once I retired from the SEAL teams, started teaching them in the civilian sector. And that's just grown a Ton. Because those principles are very effective for leading in any environment, in any endeavor. So as that grew, also, you know, I started a podcast, wrote a bunch of books. Yeah, I have a supplement company called Jocko Fuel and then I have a clothing company called called origin USA and we but make 100American made clothing and we make jeans, boots, T shirts, hoodies, hunt gear, workout gear, and Jiu Jitsu geese.

[Tommy]

So that's awesome.

[Jocko Willink]

So when I was in the military, I actually started Victory mma. So one of my buddies was a, was a master chief in the SEAL teams and we were both training Jiu Jitsu all the time and we had, we had kind of been inside of other, either boxing academies or regular gyms. And so eventually we got kicked out of a bunch of different places for training people in MMA and, and Jiu Jitsu. And so we decided we would start our own and we went and made this gym here which is called Victory mma.

[Tommy]

Love it. Well, let's talk a little bit about that. Extreme ownership, discipline. Obviously you learn a lot in the Navy about leadership. A good leader has nothing to prove, but everything to prove. What does that mean exactly? Has nothing to prove, but everything to prove.

[Jocko Willink]

Yeah, so that's something that I actually used to tell these, these young junior officers. So you get these young guys, they're going in the SEAL teams, but they're officers, so they'd been to college, they get commissioned as an officer. So now they're supposed to be in charge. Allegedly. But you know, you've seen the movies, you've seen the old Vietnam movies where the young officer comes in and he's trying to tell the old gunnery sergeant what to do. What they do is they start bossing people around, trying to make decisions that they don't really know anything about, and they end up looking stupid. So what I used to tell them was you don't have anything to prove. You don't need to prove to your, to the SEAL platoon that you're in charge of them. You are in charge of them. What you're trying to prove to them is you're going to make good decisions, you're going to take care of them, you're going to, you're going to be tactically squared away, you're going to listen, you're going to be humble, because that's what a good leader does.

[Tommy]

Can you explain how the laws of combat apply to leadership and business?

[Jocko Willink]

Yeah. So again, being in the, being in the seal teams for 20 years and learned a bunch of lessons over the years and eventually I was In a position where I was teaching leadership to the young seals. And when I started doing that, I realized that I needed to kind of take all the lessons I'd learned through my career and I needed to formulate them in a way that these young SEAL leaders could just. Right, here's what you need to do. So covered move is a machine gun fighting tactic. You ever seen a movie where someone goes, cover me?

[Tommy]

Yeah.

[Jocko Willink]

Well, what that means is when you say cover me, if I say cover me, Tommy, you're going to start laying down fire while you're shooting at the bad guys. And it's a real thing, it's not just in Hollywood. Yep. So you need to do that. And if you don't do that, if I don't say cover me and you don't start shooting at the bad guys and I get up and start running, I'm going to get shot. So that applies obviously on the battlefield, but it applies in the business world as well. Prioritize and execute. We're going to have a lot of things going on on the battlefield. You'd have terrible situations happening and usually it all be happening at the same time. So you've got to be paying attention to which one of those problems is the biggest problem and focus on that biggest problem. Then you can move on to the next one and so on down the line. Well, it's the same thing in business. If you try and do 49 different things at the same time, you're not going to achieve them. You got to figure out, all right, this is the one that's going to give me the most return on investment. I'm going to focus on this one. Now listen, it doesn't mean, and you know, you know this very well, it doesn't mean you can only do one thing at one time. But you know, I'll assign someone or delegate someone to take care of something that I can't commit all my resources to so that we can do a couple of things at the same time. And so, so we got to prioritize next. Figure out what the biggest problem is, what the biggest return on investment, focus on that and then going down the line and then decentralized command. This is, you know, in combat. I can't tell everybody in a, in a 20 man platoon what they need to be doing during combat. I can't be saying, hey, you with the machine gun, move a little further to that corner and hold security down that road. And hey, you with the, with the grenade launcher, why don't you step back over here and start lobbing some grenades at the enemy. And hey, you with the radio, why don't you start calling and see if we can't get some. I can't, I can't tell every single person what to do. Yeah, they need to know what to do. They need to understand what the mission is, then go execute it. It's the same thing with you. And I've heard you talk about this before. You know, when you started your business, of course you feel like, hey, you want to go out and do every install yourself?

[Tommy]

Yeah.

[Jocko Willink]

So if you want to grow your business, you got to get some people that are going to go and take that action without you having to do it.

[Tommy]

You know, a lot of people don't get this concept. And it's basically what you're talking about is advanced delegation. And people always say they. I always, A lot of these guys I see on, on TikTok and Instagram, they talk about how they can outwork everybody. I'm like, why would you want to outwork anybody? Why not just delegate them?

[Jocko Willink]

Maybe if you're just a psycho, you can outwork two lazy people.

[Tommy]

Yeah.

[Jocko Willink]

But if you want, you're not going to outwork 10 people. No, it doesn't matter who you are. Just like, you can't out fight 10 people. You're not going to outwork 10 people. And so who's going to win? Somebody that's got 10 people that are understand the mission, that are out there executing the task, or one person that's working really, really, really hard. And by force ranking, that's what, that's what we call it in the military is force ranking. So you say, listen, I've got 10 guys. This is my number one guy. Maybe you can have two number one, you know, two number one guys or two top guys. And then you got your next four or five guys, then you got your next four or 5 guys, then you got your bottom two. And eventually you got to look at those bottom two and say, are they contributing to the mission? And if they're still contributing the mission, okay, cool. Like, you know, sometimes I get asked about, you know, I got a guy that works for me, he shows up on time, but as soon as 4 o' clock rolls around, he's out of there. I'm like, okay, so he, is he reliable? Yes. Does he do his job? Yes. I'm not really mad at that person. I recognize that they might not be a go getter.

[Tommy]

Right.

[Jocko Willink]

But you know, I might give him six months, might give him a year. You know, maybe He's a young single guy. Know he's, he's making enough money to pay the rent and pay the, pay his car payment and he's having a good time on the weekends. He's kind of set right now. Fast forward a year. All a sudden he's getting married. Y and he, you know, now he's got a kid, he's going to start looking around, going, wait, how can I make more money? How can I do better? What can I make happen here? And so I'm going to take that person, I'm going to move them into the, the, the higher part of the bell curve where he's a higher performer. But, but you do have to check your people. You have to make sure and then you have to give them good feedback.

[Tommy]

Some of my leadership team always tells me, well, not everybody could be a 10.

[Jocko Willink]

Yep.

[Tommy]

And I'm like, well, I only want tens. I'm like, it's all the leadership and it's hard to get all tens.

[Jocko Willink]

I look at it like I might, I'm not going to get all tense like, well, you know, even the Chicago Bulls, they look, Michael Jordan's a 10, but what's Scotty Pippen a 9.8. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Let's go right on down the line. Eventually you got people that are not Michael Jordans.

[Tommy]

Right.

[Jocko Willink]

So, but can they fill that role in that team? And here's the important part that I think you're aiming towards, which is, does the person want to be a 10? Do they want to be a 10?

[Tommy]

The only thing you could delegate out of fitness, finance, Faith and family is finance. You can't delegate church and like praying. You can't delegate time with family. You can't delegate working out.

[Jocko Willink]

Yeah. There's only one person that's going to be able to do those things.

[Tommy]

You're the only person that could do those things.

[Jocko Willink]

Yep. And by the way, even finance, well, I mean, you still have to. Someone else can handle the finances, but you got to go out there and make that money. You do, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know about you, but no one was depositing money in my bank account.

[Tommy]

Like when I started, I had to be everything. I started at the bottom. I had to do every job. But once you become, once you've done it a couple of times now you hire the top down because now you got money. It's easy when you've got money to make more money. It's hard when you don't have anything and that's what I came from. Zero, I don't know. You were raised in east coast, right?

[Jocko Willink]

Yep. Yep.

[Tommy]

What did you guys come from humble beginnings or was it like me?

[Jocko Willink]

My parents were school teachers, you know, so we, we, my parents were school teachers and we had a, a Chevy scooter. I don't know if you know what that is, but it's like a scooter. It was a, it was a vehicle. I, I just always remember this Chevy scooter because it barely fit, you know, I had two sisters and it barely fit us in the back seat, no air conditioning, AM radio. It was just like, it sucked. Okay.

[Tommy]

So you become a role model for a lot of young men. I think it's your message resonates, this idea of discipline. What are some game changing advice for young men in their twenties that you wish you knew?

[Jocko Willink]

The one that no one wants to hear is wake up early. If you're not getting, I think you should get up in the morning and do some kind of exercise.

[Tommy]

Right.

[Jocko Willink]

So if you got to be at work at whatever, seven o' clock in the morning and you got a half an hour to get to work, whatever, roll that time back so you can get up and do some physical activity in the morning. And that's just going to make your whole life better. I think that is a good way to start the day. It sets everything else in motion. And then, you know, another thing, you know, you and I were talking about before we hit record is like these things don't happen overnight. You're not going to. You don't start a business and now your business is totally successful and it's a huge expansion and you're just living the dream. Doesn't happen like that. The dream takes work. So I would say get up early, work hard. Essentially, that's what you got to do.

[Tommy]

I talk a lot in my book, my original book, the Home Service Millionaire, about delayed gratification, about living below your means, about stacking the chips and compound interest.

[Jocko Willink]

Yeah.

[Tommy]

When it's working for you or against you.

[Jocko Willink]

Oh yeah.

[Tommy]

If I was talking to someone young right now, I'd say, listen, don't worry about the watch and the car. And I live with my parents as long as they let me. Even if I got to pay them a little bit of rent, like stack the cash, y.

[Jocko Willink]

You know, no doubt, dude.

[Tommy]

I work double shifts, I wash dishes, I, I bust tables. Whatever I get my hands on to make a buck, I just did it. And I work as much as freaking possible. And you know, it's It's. Things have changed a little bit, but I still work a lot, but I work a little bit smarter. I don't have to do the physical labor.

[Jocko Willink]

Yeah. I mean, there's no. I still see the American work ethic.

[Tommy]

Yep.

[Jocko Willink]

Very, very strong. But I would say what you have to be careful of is as a young guy working right now, you can make, you can make good money. And that's where you got to do what you said. You got to be smart with that money.

[Tommy]

Yeah.

[Jocko Willink]

I drove a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan for 13 years with, with a window that was taped shut when I was in the Navy. And the reason I did that was because I was house poor. Like I was buying houses as a young guy on navy pay, which is not easy to do. Which mean. Which meant I didn't have money for the brand new car for myself, the brand new car for my wife, the, the fancy, like fancy watches. That's something that's never even crossed my mind. So, yeah. Stay humble, live within your means, and in the long run, that delayed gratification, you're going to be in a much better situation.

[Tommy]

How do you destroy insecurity?

[Jocko Willink]

Well, it depends what you're insecure about. But I think if you're insecure about something, what you have to do is you have to look at that thing and you have to go toward it. So when you're insecure about something, go and admit it, face it, and then start to take ownership of it and you'll become more comfortable with it no matter what that thing is. The worst thing you can do if you're insecure about something is hide from it.

[Tommy]

What do you think is three common lies that hold people back?

[Jocko Willink]

I can give you one of them or I can give you 1,000 of them, which is, it's my boss's fault, it's my parents fault, it's my spouse's fault, it's my teammate's fault, it's my teacher's fault, it's my coworker's fault, it's the client's fault, it's everybody else's fault. Yeah. So we blame a bunch of other people for things that are going wrong in our life. And to me, that's the biggest lie. The moment that you look around at your world and you say to yourself, the reason my finances are bad, the reason my business is bad, the reason my relationship is bad, the reason my health is bad, the reason these bad things are happening to me is because of me. Yep, that's the moment that you can actually get control and make things happen.

[Tommy]

Look, I've never been in a 12 step process, but I know people that have had, that have. What's the first thing they start out with? Admitting that?

[Jocko Willink]

Oh yeah, it's admitting that you got.

[Tommy]

To admit that you've got a problem. And so I think a lot of people, they, they don't ever do that. Yeah, they blame, they blame everybody else but themselves and there's never any accountability there. The one thing I was thinking about this podcast is you talk a lot about discipline and intrinsic discipline, meaning no one's telling you, but if you were raised without discipline at all, how do you flex that muscle?

[Jocko Willink]

So I think like any other habit and muscle, it is something that you have to impose and you have to work on. No one, just about no one wakes up every single day at 4:30 in the morning, goes, oh great, my alarm's going off. Great, super. I don't want to lay in bed one minute longer. There's not too many people that wake up like feeling like that every day, myself included. It's like, oh, I got, I went to bed late, whatever, had to work late, had that emergency call, could, didn't sleep well, whatever the case may be, and I went to bed at 11 o', clock, 11:30. That alarm goes off at 4:30. Do I feel like getting out of bed? No. Do I get out of bed? Yes. Forcing yourself to do things that you don't want to do, that's what discipline is. So you have to force yourself to do things that you don't want to do. And if you do that over time, that becomes something that we call discipline. If you don't do things, if you only do things that you want to do, I. E. Stay in bed, I eat the donuts, that is Lay on the couch, that is not make the phone call that you're supposed to make. If you don't do those things, that's called a lack of discipline. And where you end up is in a terrible place where you have no control over your life. So discipline is a habit, it's a skill, it's a muscle that you need to train and you need to work on and you need to keep in shape.

[Tommy]

Look, there's two types of people that go into the military. Those that were bred to be in the military their whole lives, they couldn't wait.

[Jocko Willink]

Yeah.

[Tommy]

And then the other ones is like, dude, you're getting in a lot of trouble. Like you need some motivation. How good is the military to kind of build that muscle?

[Jocko Willink]

It Does a good job. It does a good job. But I mean, we know that there are veterans out there that are completely out of shape, that are addicted to alcohol, addicted to drugs, aren't holding their job. Like there's. The military can show you the path, but the military doesn't keep you on the path. Yeah.

[Tommy]

One of the things people always ask me, they're like, how did you start from nothing and get to this level of hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars? And my answer is, I change circles pretty quickly. I get to the top of this mountain, look over there's a bigger mountain, go down to the base camp, talk to a few people. Have you been at the top of this mountain? They're able to get me there way quicker. But what do you think about this idea of you got to get around the right people? Like if you want to be a great dad, don't hang out with guys that go to the strip club all the time and don't alcoholics. If you want to become a great leader, just rolling out with great leaders that proven that they've been able to lead people.

[Jocko Willink]

There's, there's always going to be trade offs. There's always going to be sacrifices. And you're either going to sacrifice sometimes in your business, you're going to sacrifice sometimes with your family, sacrifice, sometimes with your health, sacrifice, sometimes with, with, with really anything. And the thing you got to be careful of. And you know, you were talking about this earlier, if you start sacrificing with your health, that's the one thing that'll undermine everything. The question I get asked all the time, you know, work, life, balance. The answer is you have to balance and you have to explain to your family, hey, I got this project going on right now. I'm, I'm trying to acquire this business or I'm building this business and I'm not going to be around much right now other than that. Here's what I'm building, here's why I'm doing it. So you. And then sometimes you got to tell your work, hey, listen, I've been gone for a month and a half. My daughter has a wrestling tournament and it's gonna give me an all day tournament on Saturday. Do not call me. I'm gonna cut and wait with her on Friday, I'm spending all day with her on Saturday. Don't call me if something goes wrong. Talk to Fred, he'll handle it. Yeah, so you've got to figure out when you're gone too far in one direction, the other direction, and you got to maintain that balance.

[Tommy]

It's. I, I always say I'm off balance on purpose. And there's seasons of life. I see a lot of people, they always say, dude, how do you make the time? And I go, there's 168 hours in a week. If you sleep for 50, you work for 50, you work out for 10, you still got 58 hours left. You could go on a date with your wife every single night. You could read a book, you watch your favorite show and still have 40 hours left over. So I don't know how people could use that as an excuse. I just don't have the time. What do you think about that?

[Jocko Willink]

Got to make time. I always say, make time, make time for what's important. And if you don't, if you don't make time and if you don't pay attention to where your time's going, if you don't do like a time audit. That's what I. When people tell me, like, oh, I don't have time for that. Well, what do you spend your time doing? Yeah, do a time audit, figure out what you're doing with your time. And eventually you figured out that you're spending two and a half hours a day looking at your, looking at the phone that's in your pocket.

[Tommy]

Yeah. So I'm gonna run through a few scenarios and you let me know. Know how you would respond to these. No, just. We'll dive right in. So you haven't been to the gym in two months.

[Jocko Willink]

So, hey, if you, if you haven't been to the gym for two months, get a grip on reality and start working out immediately. Right now. Don't even wait till tomorrow.

[Tommy]

So you're eating like crap. Maybe you're just not eating healthy.

[Jocko Willink]

Let's say I was on a vacation and happen to be in a place where there's just like good Italian food, lots of American Italian food, which is like fried mozzarella, the whole nine yards.

[Tommy]

Yep.

[Jocko Willink]

So I'm like, all right, what I probably do is do like a 24 hour fast.

[Tommy]

You're stuck in a job that you hate.

[Jocko Willink]

I'm going to make sure that my quality of work is outstanding. I'm going to make sure that I'm performing above the standards. And I'm going to start, you know, talking to my boss about, hey, you know, I really appreciate being here. Hey, what's the next opportunity that I have? What else can I do here?

[Tommy]

What do you think the secret sauce is to a healthy significant other relationship.

[Jocko Willink]

I explain relationships Being based on five components. Trust, listen, respect, influence, and care. So you and me, if. If you trust me or if you don't trust me and I don't trust you, do we have a relationship?

[Tommy]

No.

[Jocko Willink]

If you don't listen to me and I don't listen to you, do we have a relationship?

[Tommy]

No.

[Jocko Willink]

If you don't treat me with respect and I don't treat you, there's respect. We have a relationship. You got to have those things in place.

[Tommy]

So if, if you were to start all over again and start a business, what would it be? I'm just curious.

[Jocko Willink]

Start all over again.

[Tommy]

Start over. You're in your early 20s, you want to start a business, what would it be?

[Jocko Willink]

Be? I'd probably be in the same businesses that I'm in right now.

[Tommy]

Everything you love, everything you're doing.

[Jocko Willink]

And they all kind of, they all support each other. Right. But look, I love working out. I love doing jiu jitsu, I love doing mma. I have an MMA gym. Right. I love leadership, I love talking about leadership, I love teaching leadership. I have leadership consultancy.

[Tommy]

Right. I love.

[Jocko Willink]

In order to do the working out that I talked about, I got to have good fuel. So in order to have good fuel, you got to have supplements. Jocko Fuel. And then finally, I'm a patriotic person. I believe in manufacturing, I believe in the American dream. And I have to wear clothing.

[Tommy]

Yep.

[Jocko Willink]

So the companies that I'm in, the businesses that I, that I made, that's the ones that I've been in. Yep.

[Tommy]

What do most businesses that you coach? What, what's the thing they're lacking? What's the biggest thing that you teach them that makes them grow the fastest?

[Jocko Willink]

You have to understand, you know, leadership is. Leadership is the most important thing in combat. It's the most important thing on the battlefield, it's the most important thing in life, and it's the most important thing in business. So if you, you think, people think that leadership is something that you're born with, and it's not different. People are born with different levels of leadership skill. Like, you're going to have a certain innate ability. In parts of leadership, some people are just naturally articulate, some people are good at simplifying plans, some people are. Are loud. You know, believe it or not, being loud is a, is a leadership skill. Especially in a combat situation, if you can raise your voice and people can hear you, you're. You're going to be able to command, give commands, and people understand what you're talking about. So there are certain skills that you can be born with. Just like in basketball, you can be born six, nine.

[Tommy]

Yeah.

[Jocko Willink]

You can be born with hands like Michael Jordan. Those are definite advantages. But just because you're 69 doesn't mean you're going to be a good basketball player.

[Tommy]

Right.

[Jocko Willink]

You have to learn, you have to practice. It's the same thing with leadership. So that's the biggest problems that businesses have is they just don't have the leadership skills, and they need to invest in learning the leadership skills. Once you have the leadership skills now, you can start to make things happen and you end up with a decentralized organization where everyone is out making the mission happen and getting things done, and you don't need to micromanage or in some cases, need to manage it at all.

[Tommy]

What's the motivating force in life that drives you?

[Jocko Willink]

Yeah, the motivating force in life that drives me that I think about all the time is the. The guys that I lost in combat. And so I know that they sacrificed their lives and give us the opportunity to be here and give me the opportunity to be here and. And I'm not going to let those guys down.

[Tommy]

Wow.

[Jocko Willink]

Appreciate it. Appreciate what you're doing out there.

[Tommy]

Hey, brother, thank you very much for letting us be here.

[Jocko Willink]

Right on, brother. Thanks for coming out.

[Tommy]

Yeah, this is great. All right, guys, thanks so much for listening to this episode. Like always. We're going to close it out with the Tommy Truth, which is a little slice of wisdom from me to you that can help guide you in whatever you're striving towards right now. Here's my top secrets to unshakable confidence. There's a very fine, fine line between confidence, cockiness, and just overall, believe in yourself. Some of the habits and practices of confidence. Direct eye contact, looking in the blackest part of the pupil. When you talk to somebody, slow down and listen to what they're saying back. Body language, tonality is everything. A lot of people have security problems when they walk in a room because they know they eat like crap. They drink and they're drinking all the time. They sleep in. If you manage your calendar correctly, you take care of yourself and you're the best version of yourself. You tend to feel more confident. And that's it, guys. We'll talk to you next week.